Prayer-rail



Patented Oct. 25, 1921.

JAM

UNITED STATES JOHN JAMES McCANN, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

PRAYER-RAIL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 25, 1921.

Application filed January 28, 1920. Serial No. 354,548.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN JAMES MGCANN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of the city of Toronto, county of York, Province of Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Prayer-Rails, described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, that form part of the same.

The objects of this invention are to eliminate the embarrassing difiiculties met wit in the performance of funereal rites in the observance of prayer before the casket and to provide a prayer rail which will enable persons kneeling before the casket to do so with ease and provide a means to enable them to arise with the least effort and inconvenience.

It is well'known to those conversant with the rites observed in the Roman Catholic funeral wakes that friends of the deceased kneel before the casket to offer prayer and particularly for older persons and stout people it is a diflicult posture to assume, and particularly difiicult to recover from and the situation becomes at times extremely embarrassing.

The principal feature of this invention consists in providing a prayer rail in the form of a kneeling support or bench which may be placed before the casket, and above the bench is arranged a hand rail, the device being preferably collapsible so that it may be placed in a small space for transference from place to place.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 illustrates the rail placed before a casket.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the device showing the rail partly broken away.

In carrying the present invention into effect any desirable form of a kneeling bench may be used and I herein show the bench 1 formed with an upholstered top 2 supported on the end brackets 3 preferably in a sloping position. The end brackets 3 are preferably hinged to swing under the top when not in use so as to occupy the least possible space. They may of course be made detachable to be secured together in any desirable way.

Each of the brackets is provided with a socket member 4 and in these sockets are detachably secured the uprights 5. The upper ends of these uprights are preferably connected by a cross bar 6, suitable fittings 7 forming a rigid connection.

Tapered sockets 8 are formed in the tops of the fittings 7 into which the tapered ends of the vertical portions of the upper rail 9 are seated.

WVhen the device is assembled it is placeil before the casket, the rails being preferably of brass, or nickeled to present'a pleasing appearance, and the persons offering prayer may rest their hands upon the rail to enable them to assume their kneeling position on the bench and they may use the rail to assist them in rising without embarrassment and without discomfort.

The intermediate rail is provided both as a strengthening member to form a rigid support and also to form a rail for children. The whole of the rail may of course be made a rigid structure if desired, but it is preferably formed in a sectional structure to be taken apart and readily placed in a small space.

Such a device will be used by undertaker's at the funereal rites and may be readily as sembled and placed in position and after the ceremony taken apart and uickly removed so as not to be in the way oi the removal of the casket.

What I claim as my invention is 1. A prayer rail, comprising, a pair of end brackets adapted to rest upon the floor and each having a vertical socket, a rail having vertical posts adapted to be inserted in said sockets and to form a rigid connection between the brackets, and a bench resting upon and extending between said end brackets.

2. A prayer rail, comprising, a movable bench, end brackets hinged to the under side of said bench at the ends and having vertical sockets therein, and a cross rail having vertical ends adapted to extend into said sockets to lock the end brackets.

JOHN JAMES MoCANN. 

